She's Gone?
by dhbPATHWAY1997
Summary: Quick One-Shot at the beginning of the Titan's Curse right after the Huntresses and the demigods fight off the manticore at the di Angelo's boarding school. Percabeth fluff, mostly, from different perspectives. R&R!  Rated T for mild language.


She's Gone? 

Thalia's POV

That…that _idiot! _He couldn't have held on for a _minute? _Come on! We were _right there! _It was going to take us – what – a minute and a half to get there? But noooooo… Mr. Son-of-Fish-Face-I'm-so-awesome-look-how-I-can-take-on-monsters had to go and be the freaking Seaweed Brain he was! And now she was _gone! _First Luke and now Annabeth! Gods, this was just too much crap…

I looked back over my shoulder at Percy, who I'd just chewed out. He was looking at the wolves weaving in and out around the Huntresses' legs, barking and wagging their tails as treats were thrown into their toothy silver maws. He looked – for lack of a better word – heartbroken. He didn't seem aware to it, but there was a tear rolling down his cheek. His eyes told me that he was thinking strategic thoughts; I'd so often seen that look on Annabeth's face. I made the connection: Percy and Annabeth… I turned completely around to look straight into Percy's face. Yes, deep thinking…very deep thinking… His face read strategy, but also sadness. Guilt and pain played across his features and still Percy seemed not to notice the tears in his eyes. I didn't want anyone else to notice them, either… With a quick breeze, I blew the tears out of his eyes. Percy didn't blink, didn't start, didn't do anything. He just kept staring at the wolves, probably trying to concentrate on getting the di Angelos out of school rather than our friend who'd just fallen off a cliff.

Still…the thought of them together was intriguing… I knew Annabeth had always had a thing for Luke, but she and Percy were much cuter. Plus, I'd seen them together. Just, hanging out with each other. They were genuinely friends, best friends even. I didn't feel jealous or replaced, because Annabeth had made it obvious when I'd come back to my human-form: her heart could hold everyone, and Percy, Grover and I were _all _her best friend. I knew that sometimes my cousin was jealous of me though, it was written all over his face. He'd look over at Annabeth and I hugging or laughing together and his eyes would cloud over a little bit, as stormy as the temperamental sea.

I thought of them together. Not just together, like I'd seen them before many times, but _together-_together. I smiled a little bit at that thought. But suddenly, I was pissed. Not only was my friend gone, but Percy's…_love…_could be gone. How could he live without her? Was he heartbroken? Did he just need me? Need a friend? Or maybe it was something else, something I really couldn't help… Maybe he needed Annabeth?

Artemis' POV

This poor child… All of these poor children, really. To be the offspring of the gods isn't always such a blessing. I'm always becoming more and more grateful in my decision never to marry or create life. And the daughter of Athena…Annabeth Chase… She might still be saved, but who was I to make promises to her friends that may not be fulfilled? That may be the way of the rest of my family on Olympus, but I'm not one to potentially lie to children, half-blood children at that.

Especially the son of Poseidon… While the daughter of Zeus and the satyr were plenty upset over Annabeth's death, Perseus seemed the most affected… I looked deep into his mind, practically into his soul, as I and a few other Olympians can do. I was impressed with his overall thoughts – his mind was on strategy: how best to get the di Angelos to safety at Camp Half-Blood. But under all of that was guilt and pain. Sorrow. Heartbreak…

Oh. Oh, this was rich… Aphrodite would be ecstatic to see this poor heartsick boy… Such an interesting… "soap opera" this would be. The poor boy was head over heels… Did she feel the same? How could I be worried about this? I had to think about Bianca here, and how she might be my newest Huntress… But the boy… I'd always had a soft spot for Poseidon, and Percy Jackson had done many brave things in the last two years… Thinking again of Aphrodite, I continued on my walk with the oldest di Angelo child. My entire thought process and discovery of young Jackson's feelings had only taken seconds and Bianca had not noticed anything, for which I was glad. While Perseus may not know the di Angelos very well, I didn't think he'd like Bianca to know of his feelings, or anyone for that matter.

Poor boy. Three more years… Would he really be the one?

Grover's POV

"Perhaps you can show Grover how to play that game you enjoy. I'm sure Grover would be happy to entertain you for a while…as a favor to me?"

_Oh. My. Gods. _This was the Great Huntress Artemis asking _me_ to do her a favor! Of course! I choked on the air and nearly fell right over. "You bet! Come on, Nico!"

As soon as we'd walked a foot from the camp, Nico started chattering on about hit points and armor ratings and lots of things I could only keep up with from my time playing Caves and Cyclopes. Yes, I had a geeky phase! There's no problem with that!

Soon enough, Percy joined us, and once I'd gotten Percy's wound cleaned and he'd eaten some ambrosia, Nico began interrogating him about Anaklusmos. Yes, it was shiny, and yes, it was useful, but I didn't like weapons very much…although I had to admit that Percy's was cool.

"Hey, Percy? If Annabeth's mom was Athena, the goddess of wisdom, then why didn't Annabeth know better than to fall off a cliff?"

If it had been any other person besides Annabeth, I might've laughed. _Very good question,_ I might've chuckled. But this was one of my best friends he was chatting about. Annabeth _was _one of my best friends… She might be gone… A lump rose painfully in my throat. I glanced up at Percy. He looked like he could run Nico through with his sword. He barely gave Percy a moment to respond, though, until Nico asked, "Was Annabeth your girlfriend?"

Oh, that does it. Percy looked downright murderous. Luckily, Nico seemed to notice and dropped the subject of Annabeth. Maybe it was the way Nico used the past tense "was" that upset me so much… It probably bothered Percy too, though I'm sure he was more caught up on the "girlfriend" thing. Through the fury, though, Percy blushed.

Luckily, Zoe Nightshade came up behind us with a "Percy Jackson," and saved Nico and Percy both.

"Hey, Grover, what's Percy's issue with Annabeth?"

I didn't know how to answer him. I mean, it was obvious there was some chemistry between them… But a lot of times, with how they thoroughly got on each others' nerves and with how Annabeth still liked Luke, it seemed near-impossible that they'd ever get together. Still…I'd seen them together. I'd seen them hug, and Annabeth had kissed Percy on the cheek last year, and they'd chosen to team up for the chariot races… They always worked together, always chose to be partners for every camp activity, always working together and hanging out. I wasn't jealous, but they were together more than Percy and I were, now that I was searching for Pan.

"They have…issues…" I finally said.

"Like, they don't like each other? But Percy seemed like he really wanted to save her when she fell. Is it just because they're related, like, distantly?"

"No, no, they're friends," I assured him. "Best friends, trust me."

"Then why –"

"Don't worry about it, Nico," I cut him off. "They like each other, but they're not exactly 'couple' material. You know?"

"Oh." He blushed a little. "So I embarrassed him by saying that?"

"Yeah."

"Oh… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… I should go apologize…"

"Percy doesn't mean it. He knows that there's speculation that they like each other. Don't worry about it. He just…he just needs his friend back."

"Oh." Nico was finally silent for almost the first time that night. "I guess I get that…"

"He'll be fine," I told him when he looked after Percy, concerned. "Don't worry. He's tough."

"Well _yeah!_" He exclaimed, excited all over again. "He's the son of _Poseidon! _How could you not be tough when you're the son of the _Sea God_? I mean, he has like six-hundred attack – "

_Oh gods. What have I done?_

Nico's POV

I was used to people not wanting to hear about Mythomagic. People at school teased me, and though I wouldn't let Bianca know it, they beat me up, too. But I _had _to keep on talking about it! I mean, this is like Mythomagic in the _flesh!_ There, _right there _was a daughter of _Zeus_. _Zeus! _And a son of Poseidon… And a satyr! And an actual goddess – Artemis! She was even my favorite! I mean, yeah, Athena and Demeter were cool, but Artemis? She was…she was the _bomb! _

When I stopped thinking of Mythomagic for a few moments when I was talking to Grover, I really studied Percy's behavior, and his expressions tonight. Most of him seemed at war with himself, like he was trying to stop himself from feeling a certain way. Sad, probably, considering Annabeth's situation. She wasn't dead, though. I somehow knew that. I had a gut feeling, I guess, that the daughter of Athena was still alive. Bianca knew it too, I knew it, but I guess she didn't figure anyone would listen to us and our "gut feelings." They had no reason to, either, I guess. I mean, we were the newbies. They'd had to come and _rescue _us tonight from our vice-principal. Even if he was a manticore in the end, it seemed pretty pathetic to have a whole rescue squad of demigods and a pack of Huntresses come and save you and your sister from your _school. _Especially when we were supposed to be powerful demigods, too.

I almost felt bad that I was pelting everyone with Mythomagic facts and figurines. They were starting to look really annoyed. But Grover was supposed to keep me entertained, so…

Everything Grover said about Percy and Annabeth made sense to me, though. They'd seemed to have this…_chemistry?_ Was chemistry the right word? Well, they'd seemed to have this "chemistry" between them, like they were friends, and they were special to each other, but at the same time, they were partners in combat: they always had each others' backs and with Annabeth's strategic mind and Percy's fighting skill and water powers, they were unstoppable. You could almost see that Thalia didn't seem to fit in with the two of them, but she seemed to be almost adjusting. I wondered if she was new to the demigod life, too. But then, she seemed to know things Percy didn't. Oh, I needed to know more of what was going on.

But Percy's face was the thing to really affect me. Bianca had had a boyfriend once who broke up with her and she said she was heartbroken, but she'd been just fine a few days later and I couldn't believe that she'd be affected forever by the loss of her precious Aaron or anything. Percy's face told me what heartbreak was really like. He seemed like he'd never be complete, like there was a piece of his soul missing or something. I knew Percy saw me as a kid and wouldn't ever talk to me about this kind of stuff – I mean, he was older and _much _cooler than me, probably being a son of Aphrodite or Nemesis, someone low-profile – but I wanted to console him, and to tell him that Annabeth wasn't dead. I wished he knew. I wished he had Annabeth back.


End file.
